05 April 2012
Property Week
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Frustrating and annoying’ NewBuy scheme falls flat
05 April 2012
Lenders and housebuilders shun homebuying initiative. James Whitmore reports
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‘Frustrating and annoying’ NewBuy scheme falls flat
05 April 2012
Lenders and housebuilders shun homebuying initiative. James Whitmore reports
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90 Fenchurch Street for sale
05 April 2012
A City of London office building is to become the first asset to be sold from a €1bn fund set up by Anglo Irish Bank that is in liquidation.
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A plea to Eric Pickles: reverse repairs VAT hike
05 April 2012
Dear secretary of state, may I begin with a note of congratulations on your National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
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AAIM founder's £50m fund in administration
05 April 2012
A joint venture between Lloyds Banking Group and one of the founders of collapsed fund manager AAIM has been put into administration.
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Aldo Zilli quits London and sells restaurants to Caring's Bill's Produce
4 April 2012
Celebrity chef Aldo Zilli has quit the London restaurant scene and sold his two remaining restaurants to Bill’s Produce.
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Architectural interest
05 April 2012
What makes a successful developer-architect? Sarah Stewart reports from 2012’s Young Norwood event
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Architectural interest
05 April 2012
What makes a successful developer-architect? Sarah Stewart reports from 2012’s Young Norwood event
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Asics jumps onto Oxford Street
4 April 2012
Japanese sports retailer Asics has signed to open a flagship store on Oxford Street, in time for the Olympics.
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British politicians are poster boys for excessive advertising spend
05 April 2012
For an enormously successful businessman, Conservative co-treasurer Peter Cruddas still managed to make a complete fool of himself when he was secretly filmed making extravagant promises of access to prime minister David Cameron, in language more suited to a bookies’ runner.
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Broken Home of Cricket: the ongoing row over development at Lord’s
05 April 2012
It is arguably London’s most lucrative ransom strip, and certainly its best known.
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Cabot Properties buys £23m Leicestershire warehouse
5 April 2012
Orchard Street Investment Management has sold a 362,000 sq ft distribution warehouse in Logix Park in Hinckley, Leicestershire to Cabot Properties for £23.2m.
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Canadians buy famous Paris office building for €245m
4 April 2012
Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has agreed to buy PSA Peugeot Citroën’s historic head office building in Paris for €245.5m.
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Canary dwarfs London development pipelines
05 April 2012
Canary Wharf Group has assembled the largest development programme in London of more than 11m sq ft.
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Carlyle launches student accommodation brand
10 April 2012
US private equity firm Carlyle has launches a new student accommodation brand as it looks to increase its exposure to the student living sector.
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CBRE rehires former retail agency director
10 April 2012
CBRE has rehired one of its former retail senior directors to bolster its agency team.
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Chelsfield and London & Regional submit Waterloo plans
05 April 2012
Chelsfield and London & Regional this week submitted Sir David Chipperfield-designed plans for a 1.42m sq ft redevelopment of Elizabeth House, next to London’s Waterloo railway station.
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Christie & Co instructed to sell four hotels
12 April 2012
QHotels has instructed Christie + Co to sell four hotels from its portfolio following a review of its business, ThebusinessDesk.com reported today.
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Comet shoots for ‘soft CVA’
05 April 2012
Electrical retailer Comet has been locked in talks with its landlords for the past two weeks over what the market has termed a “soft CVA” — a consensual move akin to a company voluntary agreement that would allow it to reduce its rent roll.
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Cushman 2011 profit hit by hike in income tax but revenue jumps to $2bn
6 April 2012
Cushman & Wakefield suffered a 26% drop in net profit last year but achieved its second highest-ever revenue.
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Deka buys Amsterdam office tower 'The Rock'
4 April 2012
Deka Immobilien GmbH has acquired prime office tower ‘The Rock’ in Amsterdam Zuidas for €132m from privately-held UK investment banking group Evans Randall.
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Deka makes £235m Guardian headline
05 April 2012
Guardian Media Group’s headquarters in London’s King’s Cross has been sold off market to a German fund manager.
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Developers face electricity bill shock
05 April 2012
Spiralling energy costs alongside soaring demand for office space means London faces a crisis that could render some new developments unviable.
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DevSecs and Realstar buy east London Nama resi block
11 April 2012
Development Securities and Canadian property company Realstar have bought a residential building adjacent to the Olympic Park for £15.7m.
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DevSecs sells Telford plot
5 April 2012
Development Securities subsidiary Henry Davidson Developments has sold a 1.1 acre site at its scheme in Lawley Village Telford to housing and care provider Sanctuary Group it announced today.
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Down and out in peril in London
05 April 2012
In part two of our series examining the issues affecting London’s mayoral election, David Hatcher talks to campaigners and fund managers pioneering an alternative investment solution to the capital’s homeless problem
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DTZ’s Menno Maas quits
11 April 2012
Menno Maas has quit as CEO of the Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) division at DTZ.
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Early bird England’s elevator entrapment
05 April 2012
Faulty technology. It is the perennial headache of the hard worker, and few in property work harder than Mark England, the Stakhanovite chief executive of BNP Paribas Real Estate.
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Goldman to raise $3bn property debt fund
05 April 2012
Goldman Sachs is aiming to raise capital for a new fund to lend to property companies in the US and Europe, as its post-credit crunchtransformation continues.
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HCA exceeds targets for 2011/12
10 April 2012
The Homes and Communities Agency has brought 450 acres of brownfield land back into use this year, against a target of 395 acres, the authority said today.
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Hermes heralds new era for "fat cat" remuneration
05 April 2012
The amount of money earned by directors of listed companies stinks. The government and the general public are fed up with directors’ pay being completely out of sync with that of employees.
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How the Olympics may present challenges for London retailers
11 April 2012
Although there is undoubted anticipation about the opportunities London 2012 will provide for retailers - with increased footfall and global brand exposure - it may not be plain sailing.
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I survived my first property networking event
05 April 2012
Property Week has adopted six Reading real estate students. Read their latest updates at propertyweek.com/professional. This month, James Davies learns how to network and, right, Insiyah Khushnood finally “gets” property jargon, while Sam Salloway juggles work and play
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Icon Liberty to open 'capsule' store at Westfield Stratford
19 April 2012
Department store retailer Liberty will open a ‘capsule’ shop at Westfield Stratford ahead of the Olympics.
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Ilford tower in administration
05 April 2012
A part-completed residential tower in Ilford, east London, has gone into administration. The towers of 33 and 25 storeys, comprising 294 units,are nearly fully developed.
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Inside the deal: Devonshire Square sale
05 April 2012
Private equity firm Blackstone is on course to complete one of the largest and most complex City of London property deals since the downturn began with the £330m purchase of Devonshire Square.
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Investec and GLL fund to buy Spanish warehouses
12 April 2012
Investec GLL Global Special Opportunities Real Estate Fund, a fund jointly managed by GLL Real Estate Partners and Investec Bank, is to buy two logistics warehouses in Spain.
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Investors to vote on €450m debt deal
12 April 2012
The final ballots were this week being cast in a key vote that will determine who takes control of a Dutch office company once worth more than €1bn - with analysts seemingly leaning towards a proposal from private equity firms TPG and Patron Capital.
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Italian plimsoll brand plans London expansion
05 April 2012
Italian plimsoll brand Superga is planning to expand across London on prime high streets.
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JD Sports closes 81 Blacks stores
12 April 2012
JD Sports closed 27% of the Blacks store portfolio in the first month of this year and said further closures will depend on how low it can renegotiate rents.
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JLL appointed to sell 40-storey Liverpool tower
12 April 2012
Jones Lang LaSalle has been appointed to sell the 40-storey West Tower development in Liverpool, TheBusinessDesk.com reported today.
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JLL appoints Betts as EMEA logistics head
11 April 2012
Jones Lang LaSalle has appointed Paul Betts as EMEA head of logistics and industrial.
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Kwoks arrested in Hong Kong
05 April 2012
The billionaire brothers who run Hong Kong’s largest property company were arrested last week in connection with a corruption investigation.
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Landlords’ ultimate weapon against tenants could be muzzled
05 April 2012
Government could shackle bailiffs’ powers. Sarah Townsend reports
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Landlords’ ultimate weapon against tenants could be muzzled
05 April 2012
Government could shackle bailiffs’ powers. Sarah Townsend reports
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LaSalle fund bags German mall
05 April 2012
A fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management has bought the Luisencenter shopping centre (right) in Darmstadt, Germany, for around €104m from Union Investment Real Estate.
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Little change for first-time buyers since 1950s
05 April 2012
As first-time home buyers continue to struggle to get on the housing ladder, a new report by London South Bank university masters in real estate course director Scott King analyses how trends have changed since the 1950s.
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London business school seeks home
05 April 2012
The London School of Business and Finance has hired agents to find 150,000 sq ft in central London, paving the way for one of the capital’slargest lettings of the year.
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London councils will delay office-to-resi conversions
05 April 2012
More than a third of London’s councils will refuse to allow conversion of offices into homes for at least 18 months.
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Luxury Nottingham apartment scheme in administration
12 April 2012
The owner of a luxury residential scheme in Nottingham, which achieved the city’s first £1m apartment sale, has been placed in administration.
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Manchester progresses with tax redistribution initiative
05 April 2012
TIF funding and infrastructure on other councils’ wishlists. Sarah Townsend reports
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Manchester progresses with tax redistribution initiative
05 April 2012
TIF funding and infrastructure on other councils’ wishlists. Sarah Townsend reports
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Mantis awards Nigeria five stars
05 April 2012
South Africa-based luxury hotel owner-operator Mantis is expanding its brand globally by developing three boutique hotels in Nigeria
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Meanwhile, back at the rave
05 April 2012
Property Week’s Site Life campaign has yielded some fabulous new temporary attractions in London and Manchester, not least a Victorian-style “Pleasure Garden” in the capital’s Royal Docks.
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Mitsui Fudosan plans European property fund management arm
10 April 2012
Japanese property giant Mitsui Fudosan is planning a new European property push, which will include the creation of a new property fund management business.
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MORNING AFTER: City Property Association Annual Lunch 2012
11 April 2012
The City Property Association, in partnership with Property Week, hosted its annual luncheon at London’s Guildhall last month.
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Mothercare to cut UK stores by a third
12 April 2012
Mothercare has today announced it will reduce it UK store portfolio by a third as it focuses on expanding internationally.
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Motorsports marketing firm leases from Cadogan
05 April 2012
Following the Malaysia Grand Prix (pictured) at the end of last month, the world’s biggest motorsports marketing agency has leased 4,415 sq ft of office space on the Cadogan Estate.
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New venture hopes to bridge apartment-hotel gap
05 April 2012
Bridgepoint Ventures aims to roll out apart-hotel concept across Europe. Rachel Hunter reports
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New: the Property Lexicon
05 April 2012
If, like Property Week’s “adopted” Reading students, you are bamboozled by real estate jargon (workplace, p55), help is at hand.
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Noé’s £50m prepack buyout of £40m distressed portfolio
05 April 2012
Leo Noé’s family trust has reached an agreement to pay off the bondholders that have security over a distressed portfolio of properties.
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Nursery time for children at Lord's
05 April 2012
The home of cricket, Lord’s, could also become the home of a new children’s hospital, as part of a radical solution being proposed for the Londonground’s long-delayed redevelopment.
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Nursery time for children at Lord's; Hospital proposes mixed-use scheme
05 April 2012
The home of cricket, Lord’s, could also become the home of a new children’s hospital, as part of a radical solution being proposed for the Londonground’s long-delayed redevelopment.
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Orlebar Brown's beach party
05 April 2012
British beachwear brand Orlebar Brown has taken a flagship store in London’s West End (pictured, right).
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Peakside in talks to buy Allied Irish property subsidiary
5 April 2012
Peakside Capital has confirmed it has entered into agreements to acquire Allied Irish Bank’s Polish property fund management subsidiary AIB PPM, as revealed by Property Week in October.
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People moves: 4 April
05 April 2012
Colliers International has appointed Graeme Foreman from Jones Lang LaSalle as head of project management.
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People moves: Colliers International, EC Harris, Cushman & Wakefield and more...
05 April 2012
Colliers International has appointed Graeme Foreman from Jones Lang LaSalle as head of project management.
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Peter Bolton King joins RICS
11 April 2012
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has appointed Peter Bolton King as global residential director.
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Philips offloads campus in Netherlands’ biggest property sale
05 April 2012
Electronics group Philips has sold its high-tech campus (pictured) in Eindhoven for €425m in the Netherlands’ biggest single-asset property transaction.
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Planning in balance
05 April 2012
Sir, The NPPF strikes a good balance between reassuring those who were concerned the previous draft spelled the end of the English countryside and the widely acknowledged need to radically reboot the planning system.
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Plans submitted for Macclesfield Town Centre retail redevelopment
11 April 2012
Wilson Bowden has today submitted a detailed planning application for the redevelopment of Macclesfield Town Centre to Cheshire East Council.
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Prepack predictions for LSH are premature
05 April 2012
Lambert Smith Hampton was the name on everyone’s lips this week when the question: “Which agency will be next to attempt a prepack administration?” was raised.
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Prezzo profits up 14%
4 April 2012
Prezzo is set to open 20 new restaurants this year after growing revenues by nearly 20% in 2011.
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Prince Andrew over and out
05 April 2012
It may be almost a year since Prince Andrew stood down as UK trade envoy, but the Duke of York is still shaking hands and enjoying the odd free lunch.
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Property funds now need to price green risk
05 April 2012
The increasing requirement to measure energy use, water consumption and waste output has spawned a new industry of environmental accounting.
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Property Week Digital Edition - 05 April 2012
5 April 2012
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Protect yourself from pressure of stamp duty changes
05 April 2012
Property solicitors have had a lot to contend with lately on the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) front, particularly those whose clients have asked them about ways to save on this particular tax.
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Rates: a missed opportunity
05 April 2012
Sir, The coalition has made a virtue of being “pro business”. The chancellor’s pro-business Budget measures offer lower taxation on business profits and greater access to debt.
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Research revolution required as world economy evolves
05 April 2012
The previous decade was the most exciting, remarkable and ultimately disastrous period for real estate since the end of World War II.
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Retail administrations increase by 15% in first quarter
10 April 2012
The number of retail administrations in the first quarter of 2012 has increased by 15% to 69 compared, according to research by Deloitte.
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Rockspring buys stake in south east speculative scheme
11 April 2012
Rockspring has bought a 50% stake in a speculative office development in Maidenhead from fund manager RREEF.
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Royal Bank seeks Welcome Breaks
05 April 2012
The Royal Bank of Scotland is poised to take control of a portfolio of motorway service station properties from Robert Tchenguiz.
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RREEF weighs options for £100m Lacon House
12 April 2012
RREEF is weighing up its options for Lacon House on Theobolds Road in London’s Midtown, including a sale of the building for around £100m.
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Saxo’s €114m Danish Resolution
05 April 2012
Resolution Property and Saxo Properties have agreed to buy around €114m of properties in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Signature obtained by deception guaranteed nothing
05 April 2012
The message: A tenant’s guarantee was rendered invalid because of undue influence
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Signature obtained by deception guaranteed nothing
05 April 2012
The message: A tenant’s guarantee was rendered invalid because of undue influence
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Simon Property Group to develop outlet centres in Brazil
11 April 2012
Simon Property Group is entering the Brazilian market through a joint venture with Latin America’s largest retail property company.
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St Modwen shares bounce back in first quarter after poor 2011
05 April 2012
St Modwen was the star listed property company performer in the first quarter of the year.
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Strathclyde’s £60m Sydenham park
05 April 2012
Strathclyde Pension Fund has agreed to forward fund the £60m development of a retail and industrial park in Sydenham, south-east London.
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Terrace Hill secures funding for Sunderland supermarket
5 April 2012
Terrace Hill has completed the forward funding of a £35m supermarket development at a site in Sunderland.
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Tesco subtracts first Homeplus
05 April 2012
Tesco has agreed to assign the lease on one of its Homeplus stores to homewares retailer Dunelm Mill, following disappointing sales acrossits non-food stores.
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The only way is Essex
05 April 2012
The need to sell flats fast often prompts an outlandish statement or two from a borrower in distress.
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Threadneedle frontrunner for Segro regional sheds
5 April 2012
Threadneedle is the frontrunner to buy a portfolio of Segro’s multi-let regional trading estates for around £170m.
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Topland beds down in hotel market
05 April 2012
Cash-rich group adds to portfolio and hopes to invest further. Rachel Hunter reports
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Topland buys Bath hotel
05 April 2012
Topland Group has bought the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath from the Von Essen portfolio for around £19m after the Livingstone brothers pulled out of the sale.
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Travelodge chief executive to step down
12 April 2012
Travelodge’s chief executive Guy Parsons will leave the company next week following an injection of cash from two US hedge funds.
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Two RBS Isobel loans in administration
05 April 2012
Administrators were last week appointed to two of the loans in the Project Isobel portfolio - the first administrations from the UK loan portfolios sold by taxpayer-owned banks.
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Von Essen’s hotel Heartbreak
05 April 2012
Mike Phillips uncovers the details of one of the sector’s most catastrophic collapses
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Wainbridge in £38m debut residential buy
10 April 2012
Newly-established residential venture Wainbridge Estates has teamed up with luxury homes specialist Finchatton to complete its first UK purchase, a £38m site in Knightsbridge.
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Whitgift revamp reaches impasse
05 April 2012
The redevelopment of Croydon’s Whitgift Centre has reached a deadlock after the owners picked different development partners.
